The present invention relates to advertising devices for public areas. More particularly, the present invention relates to advertising devices that provide advertising and other information targeted to the interests of persons in the vicinity of the advertising device.
More and more mass transit authorities are moving in the direction of implementing stored value/smart cards as rider commutation instruments. These stored value/smart cards are small, typically plastic bodies that enclose electronic circuitry having a microprocessor and limited amounts of memory. The memory stores a balance available for accessing through special readers to purchase goods and services. Mass transit authorities generally are using such stored value/smart cards for passengers to purchase commute travel on the transit vehicles of the transit system. The present invention provides the capability to execute integrated advertising with the ability to distribute advertiser information to the card or to the card holder via electronic mail on a global interactive information network or direct mail.
Not only can the initial advertising messages be targeted to the specific transit station, but also the same degree of specificity for direct marketing will be enabled for smart cards. The present invention provides a complementary distribution channel for additional advertiser information.
By way of background, out of the 6.2 million residents in Hong Kong, 5 million have contactless smart cards. All 27 transit (train and bus) agencies in the San Francisco market recently committed to using a universal smart card from Motorola that will enable the rider ease of transportation in the market. New York City Transit, Washington, D.C., and Chicago (CTA) are stored value card markets. DC is migrating to contactless smart cards. Atlanta has an RFP out for a stored value/smart card.
Further, advertising in public places, such as transit stations, is generally directed to the public at large. Demographic information may be useful in selecting advertisements and areas for advertising. Heretofore, however, advertising directed to the interests of particular persons has not been satisfactorily accomplished.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for providing advertising and other information messages targeted to the interests of persons in the vicinity of display devices. It is to such that the present invention is directed.
The present invention meets the need in the art by providing a targeted informational system to provide advertising and other information messages targeted to the interests of persons in the vicinity of a display device for displaying the advertising and other information messages. The apparatus includes a display device adapted to provide a display of advertising or other information messages to persons in the vicinity of said display device. A controller is operatively coupled to said display device and adapted to communicate with at least one of a plurality of electronic cards. The electronic cards are in the possession of persons in the vicinity of said display device. The controller also sequences advertising and other information messages for display on said display device. Each of the electronic cards is adapted to receive and to store information regarding the person associated with said electronic card. A communicator is coupled to said display device and adapted to communicate with said controller and to receive signals from the electronic cards in the vicinity of the display device. A central computer communicates with the communicator, for receiving signals representative of the information about persons having said electronic cards in the vicinity of the display device and for communicating to the communicator advertising and other information messages relevant to particular persons in the vicinity of the display device. The display device displays advertising and other information messages targeted to the interests of particular persons in the vicinity of the display device.
Objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description, in conjunction with the claims and the appended drawings.